Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Seizing Control of Puyang County
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The Iron Bear Ring Saber Gong Chun accelerated sharply as he closed in on me.
His massive blade whistled through the air, slashing down as if to cleave me in two. I slipped aside and flicked it away with my fan.
Clang!
As the greatsword was repelled, Gong Chun's face twisted in shock.
He couldn't believe I'd deflected a strike infused with his brute strength using just a fan.
"Try blocking this!"
Gong Chun began swinging his greatsword like a pair of chopsticks.
Boom! Crash! Boom! Boom!
Sounds like a waterwheel pounding erupted between us.
It hardly seemed possible for steel clashing against a fan.
If it were just the two of us, I could've sparred with him all day.
Life-or-death duels with masters like him were actually quite fun.
But this was a battlefield where every moment of delay meant more casualties for our side.
I kicked up an abandoned sword rolling on the ground.
From that moment, the Vault of Heaven Unfettered Sword Technique unfolded from my hand.
With each exquisite strike, bloody lines multiplied across Gong Chun's body.
'No critical hits landing.'
Gong Chun was the leader of the Demonic Cult's martial force.
In actual combat experience, he was worlds apart from me.
He dodged my attacks through sheer battle-hardened instinct.
As I poured more spiritual energy into my assault, Gong Chun's eyes changed.
He'd shown his resolve after taking a Vault Flash Sea-Splitting strike to the chest.
Whoosh!
He slammed his greatsword into the ground and charged in like a battering ram.
Seeing it, I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Gong Chun, getting desperate already? Pulling out your ultimate move so soon."
From what I'd seen in the Murim Alliance's secret records, the Iron Bear Ring Saber's life-saving technique was that very body slam.
It wasn't a mere charge.
Before I knew it, two daggers had appeared in Gong Chun's hands.
"You think I'm all brute force?!"
His body blurred with afterimages in a burst of speed.
I rapidly spun three strands of spiritual energy.
"Let's see who's faster—you or me."
I infused my internal energy and spiritual power into the sword. As Gong Chun closed in, I unleashed Heavenly Dragon Coiling Ascent.
The sword qi, manifesting a far clearer heavenly dragon than before, engulfed him.
It looked just like a heavenly dragon devouring a bear.
Gong Chun, drawing on every ounce of his power, swung his greatsword to shatter the dragon.
Kaboom!
The heavenly dragon pierced through Gong Chun and vanished.
Where Gong Chun should have been, there was nothing.
He'd been reduced to rags, dangling from tree branches in the woods where the dragon had dissipated.
The Demonic Cult warriors, who'd been sneaking glances at our duel amid their own fights, froze in disbelief at the outcome.
Quite a few ended up dead from letting their guard down.
The leader's death had clearly shaken them to the core.
"Everyone, retreat!"
At one warrior's shout, the Demonic Cult forces began pulling back from the battlefield in unison.
They'd seemed ready for a suicidal last stand, but now they were preserving their strength with an immediate withdrawal.
"Smart fellow. Being smart means you get to live a bit longer."
I praised the one who'd given the retreat order.
While collecting bodies at the Ho Lake Battlefield, I sensed a massive surge of blood flow from about a hundred paces away.
Feeling a large group of warriors rushing in, Ho Hyeonbyeok shouted urgently.
"Battle formations! Now!"
As tension rippled through the air again, I spoke up.
"No need. They're not the enemy."
I'd already detected their blood flows and identified them as Gwan Ryongjin, Yu-seong, and Mok Jinyul.
Frequent exposure to blood flows had taught me even the subtle differences between Demonic Cult and unorthodox faction warriors.
The enemy Demonic Cult arts, which used blood meridians, produced a jagged, interrupted flow.
"How can you tell?"
I answered Mok Jimong's skeptical gaze.
"I know all about them."
Mok Jimong turned to his bodyguard.
"Can you tell if the approaching ones are foes or friends? By their aura or something?"
"Young Mistress, if a bird flies across the night sky... a first-rate expert senses something moving. A super-first-rate feels it's a bird. Only at peak mastery do you vaguely make out its shape. At transcendent levels, you can sense where it's flying and how many wingbeats it takes."
Mok Jimong snapped irritably at his bodyguard.
"That's your problem. Why beat around the bush? Gotta stuff me with sweet potatoes?"
The bodyguard looked indignant.
"Great example. Excellent bodyguard. Keep him by your side, Young Mistress—he'll be useful for years."
Mok Jimong's eyes widened at my words.
"Oh, really? I've always thought the same. Unlike other guards, he always acts so damn clever."
At my praise, Mok Jimong's bodyguard quietly bowed to me.
"What? It's already over?"
Right after the battle ended, Mok Jinyul burst onto the Ho Lake Battlefield.
Gwan Ryongjin had arrived fairly quickly too, but the fight wrapping up sooner than expected left him a step behind.
"Aw, man. I even brought thirty warriors from the Ilji Sect..."
Mok Jinyul griped, having mobilized even the Ilji Sect elites, only for her contributions to go to waste.
Gwan Ryongjin approached.
"With so many Demonic Cult corpses, how are our casualties this light? My men took minimal losses too."
Mok Jimong replied.
"Lots died to Scholar Cheon. We kept casualties low thanks to him."
Gwan Ryongjin turned to me.
"You took down the Iron Bear Ring Saber too? Even I'd hesitate to claim easy victory over him."
"You're too kind. Leader Gwan Ryongjin would've crushed him in no time."
Mok Jinyul was still fuming.
"The second I got to the Ilji Sect, I rounded up the elites and came running. Even I figured the Demonic Cult would hit today, tomorrow latest. If I'd been a bit faster, we could've wiped them out."
No wonder she'd gone straight to the Ilji Sect without throwing a tantrum—she'd been plotting this.
'Not bad, using her head. Would've been better if she'd told me.'
I knew exactly why she'd pulled that stunt.
"Even if Little Miss Mok arrived late and missed the action, it was a solid plan. Had the tide turned against us, it would've been a huge help. Very well done."
Mok Jinyul's face flushed bright red.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Oh ho ho ho!"
Mok Jinyul laughed heartily, wriggling in delight.
Mok Jimong watched with a grave tone.
"She's earned it. Probably the first praise she's ever gotten. Even as a kid, she was always in trouble, just getting scolded by Father and everyone else."
That explained the root of Mok Jinyul's issues.
Those with Seven Stars Origin Energy suffered madness from spiritual frenzy, but others fell to madness from deprivation.
Love-starved souls craved affection from others, only to destroy themselves and those around them when denied, spiraling to ruin.
With proper guidance, Mok Jinyul could've turned out fine.
But the unorthodox clan's obsession with survival of the fittest had left her practically feral.
As I gazed at Mok Jinyul with pity, a familiar face popped up.
"We're not done yet, right?"
Rage burned in Yu-seong's eyes.
'Keeping all the fun from me?' it screamed.
'Why is everyone around me so unhinged?'
From Yeoseol to Songran, Mok Jimong, Mok Jinyul, and now Yu-seong.
All of them one misstep from tumbling into the abyss of death.
'Can't blame anyone. I'm the one drawn to types like that.'
And Yu-seong was spot on.
I had no intention of stopping here.
"Exactly. Can't end it like this. Gotta prepare a feast for Brother Yu to enjoy."
"Knew you'd get me! Extremes connect, after all. Ha ha ha!"
As Yu-seong laughed triumphantly, Mok Jinyul sidled up, curious at our glee.
"What's so funny?"
"Got a use for the warriors Little Miss Mok brought."
"Oh? Spill it."
I gathered the key figures.
"The real fight starts now. We're heading straight to Puyang County, driving out the Demonic Cult scum and taking full control. That's how we end this battle."
No one objected.
"The Xuan Tian Asura Squad follows Scholar Cheon's lead."
Even Squad Leader Gwan Ryongjin backed me fully.
Myeong U-jong chimed in.
"And while we're at it, we seize the county office too. Bet the Demonic Cult's got that under their thumb."
"Understood. We'll support Inspector Myeong officially from here on."
Ho Hyeonbyeok nodded.
"So it can't look like an unorthodox-Demonic Cult clash."
"Right. Make it Demonic Cult versus the government. That way, no escalation."
The officials nodded in agreement.
We herded the routed Demonic Cult remnants like stragglers.
"Die honorably, as befits the Cult's warriors!"
Those resolved to die couldn't be ignored.
Gwan Ryongjin shouted.
"Xuan Tian Asura Squad—form the Great Phoenix Heaven-Shattering Array!"
His elites swiftly arrayed into a phoenix formation, flawless.
Gwan Ryongjin's eyebrows twitched in satisfaction at his subordinates executing it perfectly with him at the head.
"Heh heh, you lot! Elites are different."
Cheon Taesan stepped ahead toward the death-defying Demonic Cultists.
"Scholar Cheon, fall back. They're coming at us ready to die. Anything can happen."
Even first-rates could fell peaks if cornered.
"That's why I'm stepping up. Can't have you getting hurt by trash like that—wouldn't look good before the Supreme One."
Cheon Taesan pulled a leather pouch, grabbed a handful of inner cores, and scattered them into the air.
Colored cores floated midair, drawing gasps of shock.
"What?! Telekinesis?!"
"Floating objects? Nah, that's Sword Control, right?"
Warriors behind argued over the floating cores.
Ho Hyeonbyeok couldn't accept his old friend had surpassed peak mastery so casually.
"What the hell happened to you?!"
Mok Jinyul, who'd been scanning the scene, approached him.
"He wasn't this strong before?"
Knowing she was the unorthodox clan's forbidden treasure, Ho Hyeonbyeok ignored her rough speech.
"He was a genius all around. Mastered medicine and music beyond experts in months. Who knows? Might've raised his martial arts that fast too. Yeah, he could."
"Hoo. You know this scholar guy well. From now on, serve as my aide."
Ho Hyeonbyeok nearly refused in disbelief but nodded, unable to snub the Xuan Tian Sect amid this crisis.
"I'll aid you till Nanchang. But family duties mean I can't always be at your side. Bear with it."
"Fine. Anyway, that scholar and his friends—none of 'em listen. Hey, where's that Yu-seong guy?"
Yu-seong glanced back at Mok Jinyul mentioning him.
He was staring, entranced, at a glowing orb, mouth watering from excitement.
'What're they planning with that orb?'
Fragile as glass, ready to shatter at weak energy.
He clearly heard the scholar mutter.
He was right behind him, close enough for breaths.
"Evil! Return to nature!"